Canberra’s central business district is divided by a fifty-metre wide roadway that is set to become even more dangerous, and even more dysfunctional.
Northbourne Avenue’s six general traffic lanes, two shared paths and two cycle lanes will soon be joined by two light rail tracks. Fifteen thousand light rail passengers will use the Alinga Street terminus each day. Passengers travelling to or from north of the terminus will have to negotiate Canberra’s most dangerous place for pedestrians – the intersection of Northbourne Avenue with Bunda and Rudd Streets.
Pedestrian crossings currently connect only to the east and west. But light rail passengers will want to travel in all directions, especially south-east to the bus interchange. Better pedestrian crossings could improve safety, allow quicker bus-tram connections, and help the Government to increase the public transport share of all work trips to 16% by 2026.
Northbourne Avenue is dangerous for pedestrians. It’s the only part of a major shopping area in the ACT where pedestrians face vehicles travelling legally at 60 km/h. Two pedestrians have been killed on Northbourne Avenue since 2006. The Territory’s three most dangerous locations for pedestrian injuries are the intersections of Northbourne Avenue with Bunda and Rudd Streets, with Macarthur and Wakefield Avenues, and with London Circuit. It might be even worse, but for traffic signal improvements that reduced the number of risky crossings.
Northbourne Avenue is dangerous for cyclists. Its intersection with Morphett Street in Dickson is the ACT’s worst location for cyclist injuries. Six of the seven most dangerous locations are along Northbourne Avenue.
Northbourne Avenue is also dangerous for motor vehicles. It averages a crash every two days, and an injury a month. The intersection of Northbourne Avenue with Barry Drive and Cooyong Street had 61 crashes and four injuries during 2013 and 2014.
Walter and Marion Griffin designed Northbourne Avenue for a city that would not need traffic signals because only a few of its 30,000 inhabitants would own cars. They would have designed Northbourne Avenue very differently if they had anticipated that Canberra would have 240,000 passenger vehicles and 300 signalised intersections. Its wide medians mean that most pedestrians crossing to the diagonally opposite corner of a Northbourne Avenue intersection have to wait at a red signal before commencing to cross the side road, wait at another red signal before starting to cross Northbourne Avenue, and then wait at a third red signal before completing their crossing. At the intersections with London Circuit, with Alinga Street, and with Rudd and Bunda Streets, vehicles turning right have to wait at up to two red signals.
Northbourne Avenue’s wide medians mean six less seconds of traffic signal green time, per cycle, than at normal intersections. Reduced green time has a disproportionate effect on peak period congestion delays.
Northbourne Avenue’s intersection with Rudd and Bunda Streets is the epicentre of Canberra’s morning congestion. Traffic banks up from there until it blocks the intersection with Barry Drive and Cooyong Street. This causes a kilometre-long cascade of congestion, that partly blocks every intersection back to Ipima Street.
The parkland along the centre of Northbourne Avenue has twice the total area of Glebe Park. But few people use it because it’s all within fifteen metres of the noise, fumes and danger of three lanes of 60 km/h traffic.
Planning Minister Mick Gentleman said that he intended to create environments that are child- and age-friendly and support cycling and walking, and noted that community and stakeholders emphasised the need to adopt a placemaking approach that focuses on pedestrians first, cyclists second, public transport third than private vehicles.
How can we apply those principles to make Northbourne Avenue a safer, more efficient, and more enjoyable space?
Leon Arundell is Chair of Living Streets Canberra.
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What’s Your opinion?
How can we fix Northbourne Avenue?
Oldest to Newst
wildturkeycanoe said :
It may well be feasible, although I imagine that building a tunnel through a city is more complex than through undeveloped grassland/forest. And there is the issue of whether its worth spending a lot of money to speed up people’s commutes twice a day, given that in between rush hours the traffic isnt terrible
In terms of pedestrian safety, there is the option of overpasses – they arent very common in Australia but in some cities (HK is a prime example) they are very common. Of course, in HK many of the overpasses go from multi story shopping mall to another similar shopping mall; people arent always too keen on walking up and down stairs just to cross the road.
AngryIan said :
Please dont start that discussion on here again ! An ariel type tram, or gondola type ariel solution was raised by a past contributor on here a while back. He was basically shouted down by apologists for the ACT Labor/Greens Govt and pro tramers, so no longer posts here I believe. Instead of something like that “visionary” solution, the ACT Labor/Greens Govt did not properly nor fully consider all alternative & emerging public transport solutions but instead instead went with a surface based tram.
dtc said :
In terms of cost, why wouldn’t it be feasible to go underground? The Snowy 2 project involves a 27km tunnel and power station, for a mere $2 billion. The tram is already near that, so maybe underground isn’t such a bad idea.
AngryIan said :
That sounds like a “pop-up tram”.
It wouldn’t want to go too high or it might collide with the Sky Whale.
Here’s how we can make Northbourne flow better – 1) streamlining the number of intersections and which way they allow turns, eg at Braddon you have Girrawheen, Elouera and Cooyong Sts all one block apart allowing turns in every direction – Elouera could be a “left only” intersection (make Girawheen 2 lanes each way to accommodate). Rudd/Bunda St could also be left only, the other adjacent roads provide options to turn right 2) separating the bike lane from traffic/buses, the median would have been perfect but with tram probably cant accommodate now 3) bridging or tunneling the bike crossing at Dickson near Morphett St (one less light). 4) More “turn left at any time with care” slip lanes at intersections to move traffic through.
So does anyone actually have a suggestion as to how to improve Northbourne Ave? The only one I saw was to build a tunnel, which would solve the problem but might not be feasible.
What about some under and over passes, like at Kings Ave Bridge?
And some alternative routes to cross the lake. Another bridge seems unlikely and I dont know if there is a viable option, but what about improving Limestone Ave and sending more people down that way instead of through Civic?
The government’s EIS for the Tram said congestion will increase on Northbourne Ave as a result of signal priority changes. Turning Northbourne into a parking lot should make it much safer for pedestrians and bicycles.
dungfungus said :
They should have made the tram aerial. That way no lights to stop at and when they want a stop they can drop down to a 3m high platform. Trams then go at 90kph o faster between long distance stops. It would make my travel time to civic <15 minutes and if this is the case I would leave the bike and car at home.
I fear the light rails will be with us for a long time to come, Dungers, with or without the trams.
JC said :
Just as the light rail novelty will be temporary.
dungfungus said :
Yeah the 6 lane road does create a moonscape environment doesn’t it? But that’s ok yeah? Road. Never mind the light rail construction is just temporary.
JC said :
At no time were those trees clear felled like they have been now. I did refer to Moonscape Avenue.
That is the point.
And I don’t think eucalyptus were ever the right choice. Majestic Grevillea Robustas would have been perfect, especially the unique symetrical vista they could have presented when they are in bloom.
dungfungus said :
Well der they are being replaced now for good reason. Yeah know you don’t like that reason, but the whinging of people over these ‘pristine’ trees is well ott.
It’s been clearly demonstrated and stated that they are not as old as many make out and they willl be replaced with more than what has been removed
In other words it’s temporary.
ffisher said :
You consider 50km/h maximum in stop start traffic too fast???
What is unsafe about Northbourne Avenue apart from the narrowness of the lanes ever since they squeezed the cyclists onto the road as well?
ffisher said :
This I agree with totally. Where exactly are all the new residents who are buying apartments along the tram corridor going to get their money from? The public service has been taken over by Coles [Down down!] and their jobs are being stolen by the Nationals Party to be sold off on Ebay to the highest rural bidder. There are consistently declining numbers of staff in our services such as Centerlink, Medicare and A.C.T government shopfronts [Who have even taken away nearly all the seats in the shopfront]. So where are the jobs that are going to prop up the economy and get the tram up and running?
Lately, nothing makes sense in Canberra.
dungfungus said :
That’s actually 28 years not 38 as I said 20 odd.
Anyway merc600 has same memory as me, in my case it was early 90’s when I was working at a Braddon servo.
The key difference is the trees before we’re not replaced wholesale rather gradually over a number of years. And of course it wasn’t a building site.
MERC600 said :
They have always been replaced progressively but it wasn’t the complete removal and delayed replacement we are looking at now as was my statement “as they are planned to be now”.
dungfungus said :
Sorry Dungers. I used to steam along Northbourne Avenue every working day in the 80’s and can remember the trees being replaced.
Found this in a ACT Planning site ”
Second replacement plantings of river peppermints 1987
By 1981, the red gums were suffering from the combined effects of drought and gas pipe laying.27
They were replaced by quick growing river peppermint (Eucalyptus elata) during 1987 under the direction of Pryor’s successor John Gray.28